Located at 59 West 44th Street in New York’s theatre district, the Algonquin Hotel became an artistic hub for the city and a landmark in America’s cultural life.
It was a meeting place and home away from home for such luminaries as famed wits Alexander Woollcott and Dorothy Parker; Broadway and Hollywood stars, including Tallulah Bankhead and Charles Laughton; popular raconteurs like Robert Benchley; and New York City mayors Jimmy Walker and Fiorello LaGuardia.
Gathering initially as part of a practical joke, members of “The Vicious Circle,” as they dubbed themselves, members of Algonquin Round Table met for lunch each day at the Algonquin. At these luncheons they engaged in wisecracks, wordplay, and witticisms that, through the newspaper columns of Round Table members, were disseminated across the country.
Observing it all was author and journalist Konrad Bercovici. Born in Romania, Bercovici settled in New York, where he became known for reporting on its rich cultural life.
While digging through an inherited trunk of family papers, his granddaughter, Mirana Comstock, discovered this previously unpublished manuscript on Bercovici’s years at the Algonquin, now broght forward as The Algonquin Round Table: 25 Years with the Legends Who Lunch (SUNY Press, 2024).Lovers of New York lore and fans of American culture will enjoy his vivid, intimate accounts of what it was like to be a member of this distinguished circle.
Author and journalist Konrad Bercovici was a friend of several leading 20th century figures, including John Reed, Charlie Chaplin, Ernest Hemingway, and Paul Robeson.
His granddaughter Mirana Comstock, who edited this work, is a screenwriter, poet, and musician who has recorded and performed in New York and the Boston area, where she now resides. She is currently adapting one of her grandfather’s books as a miniseries.
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